A visit to the Pumpkin Patch

After my membership committee meeting at the Food Co-op, but before Aleks' speech therapy, we headed off to a local farm renowned for its apple-picking and pumpkins. We went once before on a Saturday and found it to be a nightmare, so going on a Thursday was quite reasonable. The drive was through a lovely, vaguely rural suburb with large houses on large bits of land, many with stables and barns. Like hobby farmland for the wealthy. The changing colors of the trees covering the roads made the whole trip lovely. We talked at length about chlorophyll draining away from the leaves due to the shortening days.

I thought how nice it would be to live out here, close enough to the city, but with enough land for homesteading. It's a lot like the area where my parents live, only much much wealthier. To prove this, there were lots of McCain Palin signs tacked along the roadside. An urge to kick each of them down bubbled inside me and this convinced me that living here would not be a good idea. We listened to World Have Your Say discuss race and the upcoming American election, which put both boys to sleep.

After I woke them up and we headed out to the field of pumpkins, Aleks set to finding the largest pumpkin possible while Bastian picked out three perfect Bastian-sized pumpkins.
I reminded Aleks that we had at least four pie pumpkins back at the house from City Fresh so we didn't really need this one (plus it had a hole in the bottom).
Bastian-sized pumpkin number one.
Two! Two Bastian-sized pumpkins! Bwahaha! Also, to the left you will notice the biggest pumpkin Aleks and I could find.
Inside the storefront, we picked out gourds and mini-pumpkins for our table and the boys found chocolate-covered pretzel sticks. They rode the stack of squash to the checkout in the wagon. The largest pumpkin, which I nearly dropped trying to put it on the counter, weighed in at a whopping 57 pounds! I called everyone who I thought would care on the drive back home.
I nearly dropped the giant pumpkin again trying to get it from the trunk of the car (where it barely fit and had to be maneuvered in) to the porch. It fits the pedestal perfectly. The Bastian-sized pumpkins sit on the steps all cute and cuddled up to the geraniums.
The Great Pumpkin: 57 lbs.!